Cooking MORE Cholent

Mark your calendars

2012-01-04T08:18:00.000-05:00

Mark your calendars and spread the news to others (who at least understand Yiddish):

פֿרײַטיק דעם 11טן מײַ
12:30, שולכל — אויפֿן צװײטן גאָרן

12:30, שולכל — אויפֿן צװײטן גאָרן

עדי מהלאל — קאָלאָמביע-אוניווערסיטעט
אַ קוק אויף יאָסל בירשטיינס "צווישן איילבערטן" און זײַן ברייטערן פּאָליטישן קאָנטעקסט

אין דער דערציילונג "צווישן איילבערטן" פֿון יאָסל בירשטיין (2003-1920), דערשינען צו ערשט אין 1954, ווערט דערציילט וועגן אַן אַלטן פּאַלעסטינער אַראַבער און זײַן צופֿעליקער טרעפֿונג מיט אַן ישׂראלדיקן זעלנער. אין אָט דער לעקציע וועט עדי מהלאל באַווײַזן ווי אַזוי בירשטיינס מאָדערניסיטשע דערציילונג רעאַגירט אויף דער פּאָליטישער און קולטורעלער רעאַליטעט אין ישׂראל.

פֿרײַטיק דעם 11טן מײַ
12:30, שולכל — אויפֿן צװײטן גאָרן

עדי מהלאל — קאָלאָמביע-אוניווערסיטעט
אַ קוק אויף יאָסל בירשטיינס "צווישן איילבערטן" און זײַן ברייטערן פּאָליטישן קאָנטעקסט

אין דער דערציילונג "צווישן איילבערטן" פֿון יאָסל בירשטיין (2003-1920), דערשינען צו ערשט אין 1954, ווערט דערציילט וועגן אַן אַלטן פּאַלעסטינער אַראַבער און זײַן צופֿעליקער טרעפֿונג מיט אַן ישׂראלדיקן זעלנער. אין אָט דער לעקציע וועט עדי מהלאל באַווײַזן ווי אַזוי בירשטיינס מאָדערניסיטשע דערציילונג רעאַגירט אויף דער פּאָליטישער און קולטורעלער רעאַליטעט אין ישׂראל.
http://www.yivo.org/max_weinreich/index.php?tid=54&aid=920
עדי מהלאל
אַ קוק אויף יאָסל בירשטיינס "צווישן איילבערטן" און זײַן ברייטערן פּאָליטישן קאָנטעקסט

אין דער דערציילונג "צווישן איילבערטן" פֿון יאָסל בירשטיין (2003-1920), דערשינען צו ערשט אין 1954, ווערט דערציילט וועגן אַן אַלטן פּאַלעסטינער אַראַבער און זײַן צופֿעליקער טרעפֿונג מיט אַן ישׂראלדיקן זעלנער. אין אָט דער לעקציע וועט עדי מהלאל באַווײַזן ווי אַזוי בירשטיינס מאָדערניסיטשע דערציילונג רעאַגירט אויף דער פּאָליטישער און קולטורעלער רעאַליטעט אין ישׂראל.

Monthly Commuter Tax advantage goes to cars, not people

2011-12-01T09:22:00.000-05:00

Are you aware of this? I was bummed to see my monthly commuter benefits (which help cover my PATH pass and metro card with pre-tax pay) but I was outraged when I saw that parking benefits are *increasing*!!

Wtf?!?! Let's all drive more so we can use more gas!

I'm calling my congressman to voice my disappointment. What else can I do?

Begin forwarded message:

Outrageous!

From: orderconfirmation@wageworks.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 1:13 AM
To: Mahalel, Laura
Subject: Monthly Commuter Benefits Reminder

MONTHLY COMMUTER BENEFITS REMINDER

This email is being sent to you to confirm your order for the JANUARY 2012 benefit month. If you do not wish to make any changes to your order, you do not need to take any action.

Important Note: The temporary $230 monthly pre-tax transit limit set by Congress in 2009 will expire at the end of 2011. Beginning with the January 2012 benefit month, the pre-tax transit limit will decrease to $125 a month and any election amount over $125 will be deducted from your pay on an after-tax basis. Beginning with the January 2012 benefit month, the monthly pre-tax limit for parking will increase from $230 to $240.

No peas for Melech, please

2011-11-10T08:43:00.000-05:00

We enjoyed a lovely day at Coney Island yesterday. The kids played joyfully on the beach like little cave children, nearly naked in the unusually warm November sun.
The NY aquarium was thrilling for young and old. Also cooler, cleaner, and less smelly than I remembered it from my own childhood.
At snack time while I inquired about coffee at the "seaside cafe" (they were out of all varieties of coffee but had an endless supply of enormous drink containers topped with Plastic shark heads), Melech grabbed tube of organic baby food with a picture of Peter Rabbit on it. My boy is two now and way beyond baby food but I thought what the heck, it's better than the junk food options, and willingly shelled out $3 for the privilege of watching him suck down a not entirely horrible mixture of peas, apples, and some other fruit or vegetable. Adi even helped squirt the last bit into his mouth.
We carried a sleepy Melech up a million stairs and took the train to Brighton Beach ISO Russian food. Mele-bell was in deep slumber when we began digging into a tasty plate of cabbage dumplings and sipping sweet, yeasty kvas and suddenly heard him coughing in his stroller. Then it began. Or, rather, they began. Waves of pea green puke.

Fwd: me on video: A New Accord for Israel and the Palestinians?

2011-09-20T08:56:00.000-04:00

check out Adi in the Q&A at the UN (01:09:10):

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17309536

News from Hurricane Irene

2011-08-28T09:19:00.001-04:00

By 7:50 this morning, our kitchen floor was flooded. With drips from CLEAN DISHES I YANKEd fROM THE dishwasher and above all with drops of strawberry milk melech poured all over himself. And the floor. milk we only bought because yesterday we were walking round the block as much as we could, dreading today when we'll likely have to stay in all day.

(random caps are Melech's artistic contribution to this blog entry).

Seriously, we're fine. It's just been raining since last night. Raining hard, but the wind doesn't even seem especially windy.

It's now 9:16 and I'm letting the kids watch a 2nd movie (Peter Pan 2). Luckily we have kind neighbors with kids and we have a strategy to preserve our sanity, namely we will take turns watching all the kids.

So right now boredom and sanity are my biggest concerns.

But I am also worried that lower Manhattan and thus the PATH train that takes me to work in NJ will flood. Because I do want to go to work tomorrow (revisit biggest concerns above).

If the kids are happy, I am happy. And I may even get to put a dent in countless home improvement and organizing tasks. Hurrah for the hurricane!

Adamah vshamayim Zimriyah 2011

2011-07-22T20:24:00.001-04:00

It was a sauna in the Nyack High School gym last night but I couldn't have been happier watching Ahuva avd her fellow campers belt out songs w such RUACH.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVzBcnuM3rM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Hotter than Sinai

2011-07-22T17:54:00.000-04:00

This heat reminds me of Sinai. 'cept there we just lay around half-naked and stoned, playing shesh-besh while the Bedouin waiters brought us cheap yummy food and "ice-cold Coke-a-Coalies!"
Are we humans going the way of the dinosaurs?

Nyc aids walk 2011

2011-05-16T09:51:00.001-04:00

Melech and I did the walk togeter in the rain. Ahuva, tired from an alergic reaction to penicillin and the medication to treat it, opted to stay home, saying she needed time with just Aba. He didn't seem to mind. Both were releived when i loaded a very kvetchy Mellie into the ergo carrier and stepped outside.
110th st. Was already blocked off but the walkers had not yet arrived.

Correction!

2011-03-31T08:49:00.001-04:00

Tour is TODAY!

This friday: PS 165 March 31st School Tour

2011-03-31T08:17:00.000-04:00

It's cool too go to your neighborhood school!

PS 165 School Tour
234 W 109th Street (between Amsterdam and Broadway)
March 31, 2011 from 9:15 AM to 10:15 AM

PS 165 is hosting school tour for parents of PK through 5th grade.
Parents will meet at 9:15 AM in the waiting area outside the Parent
Coordinator office on the 1st floor.

Children are welcome.

Parents are encouraged to RSVP by calling Mr. Duran at (212) 678-2873
Ext. 1142.

Just say no to the mishugas: go to your local public school

2011-03-23T22:05:00.001-04:00

A letter to the fellow parents at our daughter's pre-school about our choice.

>>
>> I realize that most of you are considering other options. But if you want to
>> skip the pressures of applying, waiting, and stressing about kindergarten, not
>> to mention the high price of tuition, be aware that you have a choice.
>>
>> We have decided to "Just say 'no'" to the craziness that applying to
>> Kindergarten in NYC can represent for families. We are sending Ahuva to our
>> zoned public school which happens to be PS 165. She will attend the dual
>> language (Spanish) K class. The advantages for us are clear:
>> -No travel. The school is one block from our home. We look forward to having
>> classmates who live close by.
>> -Spanish. Learning another language is more than most kids elementary school.
>> Additionally, the dual-language programs supposedly have a curriculum that match
>> the G&T programs, except that you gain another language.
>> -Cost. None. We can spend the extra money on ballet or karate or on donations to
>> help improve the school's library. Or we can just feel a bit less strapped for a
>> change.
>> -Community. I attended the first "meet and greet", I and was impressed by the
>> small core of parents I met who care deeply about their school and who are open
>> and welcoming to anyone who wants to get involved.
>> -Great teachers. We met the dual language teachers for K and 1st grade who were
>> both wonderful.
>> -A very decent public school. A tour of the school was eye-opening. There were
>> no ipads, but the children were happy and engaged in their lessons. The younger
>> grades were safely separated from the older grades. The classrooms were in good
>> shape. There was a positive feeling in the air.
>>
>> The disadvantages?
>> -Low test scores. To be fair, the school has those test scores in part because
>> it does take whoever comes. However, there is a new principal at the school who
>> is bright, articulate, energetic, and seems to have what it takes to make a
>> difference at the school.
>>
>> -Diversity. Right now, it's not very diverse. I expect that will change. We will
>> add to the diversity. If you join us, so will you.
>>
>> -Bad reputation. This seems to be an outdated hold over from the 1980s when the
>> neighborhood was quite different than it is today.
>> I encourage you to join me at the next meet & greet and to sign up for a tour.
>> And tell your friends!>>

Snowy jersey city in march

2011-03-23T08:43:00.001-04:00

Yow!

wtf

2011-03-23T08:41:00.001-04:00

Jc today.

Night monkey, day monkey

2011-02-18T13:22:00.001-05:00

You'd think that after sleeping fewer than 3 hrs on tues, melech, like me, would want to sleep well wed night. Wrong! His vengful wrath knows no rest. We walked. Screamed. Chatted on skype with saba and savta at 1:30 am. Savta sang lullibies which soothed me & made M. Laugh. Aba and i took turns waking and snoozing. It is a blur. M. was impossible.

A bright spot thou: impromptu nocturnal FB chat with a friend in Australia cheers me up.

Irony: m. Fell asleep in strollie to school b4 leaving home, that little monkey!

Extra love

2011-02-18T08:39:00.001-05:00

A perfect coffee heart procured with an emergency fiver i had hidden in my purse.

Weanin' Ain't Ez

2011-02-17T08:35:00.001-05:00

When it was time to wean Bigsis, i turned to la Leche League's website for advice. Under weaning it said "Thinking about weaning? Have you consiered the benefits of nursing? Unless your child is in college, there's no reason to stop."
I am well aware of the benefits of nursing. I love nursing. In fact, I happily would nurse BabyBoy until college. But the time had come.
A closer read on the LLL site suggests that if you really must stop you could do so gradually by adopting a "don't offer, don't refuse" policy. Meaning don't present your breast but if he tears at your shirt, signs "milk", you can give it up

Looking for bright spots

2011-01-20T13:10:00.001-05:00

Tues. First day back after a long weekend proved bad day to wear shoes instead of boots as freezing rain fell all day. But coming out of the train the sight of ice-covered branches was beautiful.

A special shwarma experience + 1

2010-07-07T18:49:00.001-04:00

Today I abandoned the Jewish writers tour to sit and write this in a café instead. The tour was frustrating. Not only was it in Polish without a formal translator, but since most of Jewish Warsaw was litterally obliterated in the war, not many of the actual places remained to visit.

I sat in what used to be the ghetto, in a street what now hosts the important annual Singer festival. This block of buildings are all that remain of the ghetto buildings. They are without facades, brick exposed, awaiting a scheduled rennovation. Photos of old Warsaw jews hang from them, a permanent exposition.

Oh yum! They serve ice coffee in one of the ways I like it best: blended and milky. A creamy shake for adults. Not a frappuchino – not so much ice. And here is my cake. A dream of soft (but not mushy) merengue, light layers of cream, and the freshest strawberries imaginable.

On the subway now. Thre is only one line. It’s enough. Enough to get us where we need to go: from our Stalinist-style student hotel in the city’s perifery to the Shalom Foundation downtown where hour classes are held. And enough subway to get lost.

Today we took the metro from school one stop in the wrong direction on our way to meet the tour. Hungry for lunch, we decided to eat before correcting our mistake. Adi keenly spotted a kebab place by the metro exit. Aka, a shwarma joint. We left the perfect sunlight and entered a dim pocket of Middle Eastern delights. We ordered by pointing and inventing. “Felafel?” I asked hopefully. Negative. Adi offered to leave but I saw promising salads and was undaunted. A Polish girl who knew three words of English was brough in from the kitchen to help “translate” my order, an improvised ventarian sandwich. I pointed at the light and dark meat shwarma spits and said “No”. I pointed at the salads and said “Salatka – TAK”, an nodded. Ditto the fried eggplant. And attempting to read the word and guess I said “Chleb” – bread. I eyed some Turkish yogurt drink and pointed to that too for my protein. It was a good call – a light, yummy buttermilky drink.

The young guy benind the counter doesn’t speak Arabic (I asked). Turkish? “KURD.” I understand that he is not fond of Arabs. Probably not a big fan of Turks either. “Where are you from?” he communicates the question via the Polish girl.

“New York,” Adi answers for both of us, an unusual answer for him. I don’t elaborate.

“Really?” the Kurd seems to ask. I don’t understand his words but his suspicion is clear as is his retort (also in Polish) to Adi, “You don’t look Polish.”

Adi sits to eat his Shwarma. I can’t wait to tell my bro about what I just saw. After wrapping a full pile of meat, salads and sauces, our Kurdish friend pressed the shwarma sandwich on a grill like a panini.

A shwarma panini.

An exciting shwarma variant.

Meanwhile, Hussein is called in from the ktichen. He doesn’t speak Arabic either, despite the name. Apparantly he’s been brought in because he has some crucial English vocabulary that the Polish girl lacks. He also has excessive gaps between his front teeth.

“Chili sauce?” he asks, holding a red squirty bottle usually associated with ketsup. I hesitate only for a second, fearing the wrath it may cause my traveling stomach later but quickly nod and say “TAK.”

“Garlic sause?” he asks, this time rasining a yellow squirty bottle usually associated with mustard. I nod again, “Tak!”

“Thank you” in Kurdish is “spaat”. I remember this after the 3rd try by telling myself that it resembles the start of the Russian “Spaacibo”.

I join Adi. I look around. A Polish version of “hot or not” is on TV. A small lunch crowd is forming. I take a bite. Boy am I glad we got off at the wrong stop. My sandwich is utterly kick ass. The chili sauce is not too hot, but mixes perfectly with the garlic sauce to give delightful seasioning to the purple cabbage sald. The breaded, fried eggpland (which the Kurd heated in the microwave after panini-ing the rest of my sandwich) is just the right consistency of done but not mushy. It is all served in a simple round bread that is just thick enough to suck up the excess sauces and grease and makes it all easy to hold.

A bit more on the garlic sauce, since I was discussing it with bro last week in New York: Unfortunatly, I was not able to really judge the “delivery method”. Was it mixed with potato, as was a version bro recently experienced? I don’t think so. Oil? Seems so, but if so the garlic was truly pulverized, or perhaps the it was more of an infused oil. Either way, what it did better than any garlic sauce I’ve known was to successfully distribute the garlic flavor efficiently and evenly througout the sandwich. So while garlic was ever-present, it was not overly present in any one bite.

And how did the panini shwarma thing work? I have to follow up with Adi. I was too busy enjoying my delighful sandiwich and discussing the experience to even ask. Adi said we could tell him on our way out where he’s really from. But I’m glad we didn’t because we may have to go back for more!

And tonight at the little bakery on the way home I found a rare treat: spit cake! I read about it in a New Yorker article but had never seen it, let alone tasted it. I walked in to the shop not knowing what I would choose, thinking I’d leave it up to Ahuva. But there it was. A stack of thick semi-circles, with layers as in tree rings. Spit cake is made by slowly pouring layer after layer of sponge cake batter over a moving spit. A shwarma cake. I had to try it.

We enjoyed it after Ahuva went to bed. It was lovely. Slightly smokey. Not too sweet. With an even better after taste.

Mommy's Law

2009-12-29T08:08:00.001-05:00

A variation on Murphy’s Law that states: the moment your computer finishes booting (and you log on), your children will wake up.

(No sooner did I think of this than Ahuva opened her eyes, proving it true.)

Activisim task of the day: send a letter of support to a young military objector in Israel

2009-10-26T13:43:00.002-04:00

On Native People's Day (aka Columbus day), I got to see Buffy Stainte-Marie on Democracy Now (full hour show). Not only did she breast feed her baby on Sesame Street, she wrote "Universal Soldier". The following campaign really speaks to that idea of the Universal Soldier standing up and refusing to fight.

(forwarded mail follows)

First Objector from New Refusal Letter in Prison
- Please distribute widely -

Dear Friends,

A new collective declaration of refusal by Israeli youths, the 2009-2010 high school seniors letter, went public last week. Today (22 Oct.), two of its signatories, Efi Brenner and Or Ben-David, came to the military induction base in Tel-Hashomer and there refused to enlist. Efi was indeed sent to prison, while Or has not yet been sentenced (she was told that the military prison for women was full), and will have to return to the induction base tomorrow, probably spend the weekend there and be sent to prison on Sunday. We will run a separate update on her case once she is in prison.

Efi Brenner, 18, from Rishon Le Zion (a suburb of Tel-Aviv), is a familiar figure among young anti-Occupation and animal rights activists in Israel. He was sentenced today to his first prison term of ten days (more terms in prison are likely to follow), which he serves in Military Prison no. 6 near Atlit. Following the media exposure that the Seniors' Letter has received after it was made public, Efi was kicked out of home by his father, and spent the last days before imprisonment at a friend's house. In prison he has already been transferred to the isolation ward for refusing to obey the military dressing code. In addition, the prison authorities decided (against all known regulations) not to allow him to take books with him into prison.

Efi has prepared the following statement upon entering prison:
I object to oppression, whether it is commited by a hierarchical organisation, such as the military is, or whether it is commited by the human species against animals. The Israeli government and military conduct a policy of occupation and oppression against the Palestinian people since 1948. It began with the expusion of Palestinians from their homes in 1948, which continues to this day, and continued with the imposition of an oppressive military rule on Palestinians, with the restriction of the freedom of movement of all people, with roads for Israelis only, with administrative detentions, house demolitions, land thefts, etc. We must act in peaceful ways and refuse to take part in the crimes commited by the military. That is our true duty. All the things mentioned above stand agaist the basic values of freedom and justice in which I believe and for which I struggle. I therefore refuse to enlist to the Israeli military and indeed to any military force of any kind.
Efi Brenner is due to be released from prison on 30 October, but is likely to be imprisoned again soon afterwards. His address in prison is:
Efi Brenner
ID number 203258272
Military Prison No. 6
Military Postal Code 01860, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-4-9540580
Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send them your letters of support and encouragement via e-mail to http://us.mc505.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=shministim10@gmail.com, and they will be printed out and delivered during visits.

Recommended Action
First of all, please circulate this message and the information contained in it as widely as possible, not only through e-mail, but also on websites, social networks, conventional media, by word of mouth, etc.

Other recommendations for action:
1. Sending Letters of Support

Please send the imprisoned objectors letters of support (preferably postcards or by fax) to the prison addresses above.
2. Letters to Authorities

It is recommended to send letters of protest on the objectors' behalf, preferably by fax, to:
Mr. Ehud Barak,
Minister of Defence,
Ministry of Defence,
Hakirya,
Tel-Aviv 64743,
Israel.
E-mail: http://us.mc505.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sar@mod.gov.il or http://us.mc505.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=pniot@mod.gov.il
Tel.: ++972-3-6975540 or ++972-3-6975423
Fax: ++972-3-6976711
Copies of your letters can also be sent to the commander of the military prison at:
Commander of Military Prison No. 6,
Military Prison No. 6
Military Postal Code 01860, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-4-9540580
Another useful address for sending copies would be the Military Attorney General (note updated fax number):
Avichai Mandelblit,
Chief Military Attorney
Military postal code 9605, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-3-569-45-26

It would be especially useful to send your appeals to the Commander of the Induction Base in Tel-HaShomer. It is this officer that ultimately decides whether an objector is to be exempted from military service or sent to another round in prison, and it is the same officer who is ultimately in charge of the military Conscience Committee:
Gadi Agmon,
Commander of Induction Base,
Meitav, Tel-HaShomer
Military Postal Code 02718, IDF
Israel.
Fax: ++972-3-737-60-52

For those of you who live outside Israel, it would be very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web.
Here is a generic sample letter, which you can use in sending appeals to authorities on the prisoners' behalf. Feel free to modify this letter or write your own:

Dear Sir/Madam,

It has come to my attention that Efi Brenner (ID number 203258272), a conscientious objector to military service, has been imprisoned for his refusal to become part of the Israeli army, and is held in the isolation ward of Military Prison no. 6 in Atlit.

The imprisonment of conscientious objectors such as Efi Brenner is a violation of international law, of basic human rights and of plain morals. The particularly harsh conditions of imprisonment (confinement in the isolation ward, denial of access to books) in which Efi Brenner is held are evidence of an attempt to use the Israeli military legal system to try to force him to change or betray his convictions. This amounts to political persecution.

I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of Efi Brenner, without threat of further imprisonment in the future, and urge you and the system you are heading to respect the dignity and person of conscientious objectors, indeed of all persons, in the future.

Sincerely,
3. Letters to media in Israel and in other countries

Writing op-ed pieces and letters to editors of media in Israel and other countries could also be quite useful in indirectly but powerfully pressuring the military authorities to let go of the objectors and in bringing their plight and their cause to public attention.

Here are some contact details for the main media outlets in Israel:
Ma'ariv:
2 Karlibach st.
Tel-Aviv 67132
Israel
Fax: +972-3-561-06-14
e-mail: http://us.mc505.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=editor@maariv.co.il
Yedioth Aharonoth:
2 Moses st.
Tel-Aviv
Israel
Fax: +972-3-608-25-46
Ha'aretz (Hebrew):
21 Schocken st.
Tel-Aviv, 61001
Israel
Fax: +972-3-681-00-12
Ha'aretz (English edition):
21 Schocken st.
Tel-Aviv, 61001
Israel
Fax: +972-3-512-11-56
e-mail: http://us.mc505.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=letters@haaretz.co.il
Israel Hayom:
2 Hashlosha st.
The B1 Building
Tel-Aviv
Israel
e-mail: http://us.mc505.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=hayom@israelhayom.co.il
Jerusalem Post:
P.O. Box 81
Jerusalem 91000
Israel
Fax: +972-2-538-95-27
e-mail: http://us.mc505.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=news@jpost.co.il or http://us.mc505.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=letters@jpost.co.il
Radio (fax numbers):
Kol-Israel +972-2-531-33-15 +972-2-531-33-15
and +972-3-694-47-09 +972-3-694-47-09
Galei Zahal +972-3-512-67-20 +972-3-512-67-20
Television (fax numbers):
Channel 1 +972-2-530-15-36 +972-2-530-15-36
Channel 2 +972-2-533-98-09 +972-2-533-98-09
Channel 10 +972-3-733-16-66 +972-3-733-16-66

We will continue updating on further developments.
Thank you for your attention and action,

Sergeiy Sandler – New Profile.

My mail to Moma

2009-10-02T10:28:00.001-04:00

Let's see how they respond:

On Wednesday afternoon at 2:00, I visited Moma with my 7 –week old baby. As soon as we arrived up to the 6th floor to see the Ron Arad: NO DISCIPLINE exhibit, my son stirred in his carrier, indicating that he was hungry. I chose a spot at the end of the long couches outside the exhibit, near the audio guide counter, and began to nurse him. Within a few moments, I was asked by a guard to move to a less comfortable bench down the hall. Stunned, I asked him why. He made it clear that he was “not telling” me that I “could not nurse my baby” but that I was “making people uncomfortable” and would prefer if I would do it “over there”.
Uncomfortable? Were people uncomfortable viewing the 1947 surrealist work depicting a breast on top of a book, not to mention countless other representations of the human form on display at the museum?
Perhaps the guard was unfamiliar with New York law, specifically:
Civil Rights Law Article 7 CVR Article 7 § 79-e. Right to breast feed. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a mother may breast feed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether or not the nipple of the mother's breast is covered during or incidental to the breast feeding.

Clearly, that law gives me the right to nurse in the area outside an exhibit of the museum. I suspect that I was the only one made “uncomfortable” by the guard’s insensitive harassment. I would appreciate clarification and an apology.
Yours truly,
Moma member

Check it out!

2009-09-30T22:36:00.002-04:00

http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A00789 Thanks, Foster!

And specifically:
Civil Rights Law Article 7 CVR Article 7
§ 79-e. Right to breast feed. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a mother may breast feed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether or not the nipple of the mother's breast is covered during or incidental to the breast feeding.

Still Outraged

2009-09-30T21:52:00.005-04:00

Melech, milk on chin, enjoying MOMA despite the breastfeeding outrage.

Part of the exhibit on the surrealist object, this breast from 1947 is one of many breasts as art on display at Moma.

Trying to enjoy the free time remaining on my maternity leave, I took Melech to MoMa today. As soon as we arrived at the first exhibit I wanted to see, he stirred in the Moby wrap, indicating that he was ready to eat. The sculpture garden was open and might have been a good place to nurse, but we were all the way up on the 6th floor. And then lo and behold, right outside the Ron Arad: No Discipline exhibit, there were these fabulous couches. I picked a spot at the end and, finding the couch comfy indeed, started to nurse.
A guard gave me a confusing sign, a kind of wave. He asked me to move.
"What?" I asked. I didn't get it. He wanted me to move.
"Why?" I asked.
He made it clear that he "wasn't saying I couldn't feed my baby" but "you can't do it here". He wanted me to move to a bench somewhere down the hallway.
"But this is comfortable," I said. Yeah, but he told me to go.
"Um, this museum is like, full of pictures of breasts!" I said in dismay, feeling a bit stunned now. "Can I ask why I can't sit here?"
He told me I was "making people uncomfortable". I surveyed the people around me. They appeared to be mostly Europeans. They appeared quite comfortable, especially those seated at with me on the long couch.
I thought about asking to speak with a supervisor.
But I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I would cry. The hormones work that way, you know. Slowly I moved towards the direction the guard had indicated. At first I saw only two very exposed benches behind a fenced off area where a bauhaus sign was going up. Then I saw where he really meant: a narrow bench in a hallway on the way to the restroom. Absurd. But I went.
Needless to say this made my visit a lot less fun.
I would like to go back with more mothers to have a nurse in. About 40 of us could fit comfortably at the Ron Arad couch. Where can I find lactivists?

RE: outraged

2009-09-30T14:42:00.002-04:00

raquelshira comments: no!! We need to mobilize. What mamaspiritrising org exists in nyc to do a quick turnaround nurse_in at moma?i hope u flashed some serious nipple at the agent!!

outraged

2009-09-30T14:16:00.001-04:00

Melech and i are at moma and i was just asked to move from comfy couch to isolated bench to nurse! Because apparantly ppl who came to see paintings of naked breasts (they had a few here last time i checked) were "uncomfortable" seeing the real thing.

The Best Meal I Had this Week

2009-09-11T21:10:00.002-04:00

Was probably the salad I had today at three in the afternoon. I ate it on the subway, over Melech's sleeping head with him Bjorned to me. I was on my way way downtown to pick up his passport. The salad was from Westside Market on my corner. It was made of spinach leaves, red onions, a hard-boiled egg, shavings of Parmesan cheese, corn, hearts of palm, a few slivers of peppers, and a mediocre vinaigrette. Without thinking I had approximated my favorite Sylva salat italki (Italian salad). Like that one it needed salt which I was unable to add on the subway.
It was the best meal because though he was attached to me, no one was climbing on me, sucking on me, or screaming in my ear.
Other meals today: as soon as I got breakfast ready, screaming baby boy demands his breakfast. Ahuva is about to be late for her 3rd day back at school (the precious "phase in" period involving gradually increasing intervals of supervised attendance) unless I cede my ready bagel half to Adi for his breakfast. I do have a nice coffee to enjoy as I nurse, but the actual eating will wait at least another hour.
Dinner? Ordered Chinese food. Was inspired by Ahuva, now 2 years 8 months, who, on the way home from day care (today was also the first day with lunch at school) grabbed my hand at the entrance to Ollie's and said, "Let's go out for dumplings! C'mon, Mom!". It was crowded with returned Columbia students so I said "No space!" but promised dumplings for dinner. Hardly my ideal shabbat dinner but delicious. Well, the first two warm bites were, despite Mel at breast. Then he kept howling to the point where I decided to comply with Ahuva's suggestion to take him into my room to bed. That didn't work, but it did make my food cool before I got back to it.
Ah, but there was that salad...

Vive le roi!

2009-08-21T11:04:00.001-04:00

Laura, Adi, and big sister Ahuva are proud to welcome our baby boy

Melech Karl Mahalel

7 August 2009

9 lbs 4 oz (4.2 kg)

So far his main interests include eating, sleeping, and looking around while making cute squeaking noises. We’re all feeling great after a relatively easy delivery but as you can see by the lateness of this mailing, he keeps us busy!

Melech means “King” in Hebrew. For more about why we chose this name, see my blog entry: http://cookingcholent.blogspot.com/2009/08/melech-karl-mahalel.html

For pictures from Melech’s bris:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=mah.dav&target=ALBUM&id=5370758890473021361&authkey=Gv1sRgCJG9oeeoub7qVQ&invite=CICblrYF&feat=email http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=arqv28k3.3c1metdn&x=0&y=qye3fh&localeid=en_US

More and ongoing family pics on our phanfare site: http://mahalel.phanfare.com/

$10 off

2009-08-19T20:52:00.001-04:00

Your first order at www.diapers.com

Referral Code IMAMA10

That's an interesting structure

2009-08-18T09:37:00.001-04:00

At Ahuva’s wonderful school (aka day care) they have certain conventions about language. Instead of “labeling” the childrens’ building by saying, “what a nice house”, they unjudgementally refer to all their creations as “Structures”. As in “That's an interesting structure, Jakey.” It can be quite amusing to hear toddlers saying to each other “No!! don’t touch my STRUCTURE!” when they build with others.

The other day we were thrilled (and a little grossed out) to greet Ahuva in the morning and find that on her own she had pulled down her night-time pull-up, pooped in her little potty, and pulled up her pull up.

I enthusiastically praised this achievement while Aba bravely emptied the contents of the potty.

“That was great, Ahuva. A big poop!” I said. In fact it had been a towering pile of mulit-colored excrement.

“I made a STRUCTURE of poop!” she exclaimed.

Indeed.

Bris

2009-08-17T21:34:00.001-04:00

Photos from the Bris:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mah.dav/THEBRITOFMELECHMAHALEL?feat=email#

Melech Karl Mahalel

2009-08-17T20:28:00.007-04:00

We deliberated a lot about his name. In fact, the last things keeping us at the hospital were two blank spaces on his birth certificate (first name, middle name). Although we were still discussing until the last minute, Melech Karl's name was the one that stuck in my head for months now. Adi finally agreed.
Melech ("king" in Hebrew) is named for one of my heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King. King was a modern-day Moses who stood for justice not only for his own people but for all mankind. When I watched an interview with him this pas MLK day I saw a man who was deeply thoughtful, highly intelligent, wonderfully articulate, and very handsome. But most of all what struck me was his sense of dignity. I believe it is this sense of dignity, dignity of self and dignity of humanity that led him to pursue his causes through practice of non-violent means. This sense of dignity has been sorely lacking amongst most of the leadership I've seen during my lifetime both in this country (the United States), in Israel, and amongst those we consider to be our enemies.
I hope that our Melech will treat all people with respect and dignity, for there is no King but God under whom all people are equal. Or, if you don't believe in God (nod to Adi ;) - there are no kings among men, only equals.
According to wikipedia, it is likely that it was not for Dr. King's groundbreaking civil rights work that he was assassinated. Rather, it was for his radical vision of economic equality for all which preoccupied his final days (as well as false rumors that he was a communist) - that terrified his destroyers.
Economic equality is not a goal that King lived to realize. As he put it, “It is much easier to integrate a lunch counter than it is to guarantee a monthly income.” We are not even close to the mountaintop on this issue.
Which brings us to Melech's middle name, Karl with a "K". Yes, for that Karl!
Karl Marx's revolutionary analysis of class divisions gave us a solid understanding of how capitalism deprives many people of their dignity. I believe that the solutions to the problems raised by King and Marx are far from clear. If they were, then I'd like to think that we'd be seeing some signs of their success somewhere.
In the meanwhile, I hope that our children will come closer to that time of economic and social equality where the dignity of all is fully respected and realized.
And if all this - my comfortable praise for both God and communism in the same speech is too much to process, then consider this more simple explanation: the name Karl comes from a Germanic root meaning "manly".
We can sum up everything I just said with the instruction to our son in Yiddish:

Zai a mensch!

Be a mensch.

Baby Boy's birth story - to be written

2009-08-17T20:27:00.001-04:00

Quick summary: it was a lot like air travel. Much waiting that wasn't painful but was nonetheless more waiting than you want to do. But once we got there the actual birth went great.

Baby Brother, Baby Brother!

2009-08-17T20:25:00.002-04:00

Big Sister came to visit her new Baby Brother on the day after he was born. She was very excited and said "Baby Brother, Baby Brother!!"
She was reluctant to join me on the bed. It seemed the hospital gown made her nervous. I changed into a pyjama shirt and that helped. She was very curious about the bandage on my hand from where the IV had been, and about my wet hair (I managed a glorious shower just before she and Aba arrived).
"What's his name?" she asked.
"He doesn't have a name yet," we explained.
"He don't have an Ima and an Aba," she said. He doesn't have a Mommy and Daddy.
"Actually," I explained carefully, "He has the same Aba and Ima as you do."
Ahuva grew silent. Later Aba told me that they had had the same conversation in the taxi to the hospital. Bub and Zaydee had had the same conversation in the morning. So when I corroborated their stories, she must have started to get the picture.

Great News: No. 4!

2009-08-17T12:04:00.001-04:00

Baby-boy* Mahalel was born Friday night August 7 at 9:27 to Adi and
Laura Mahalel. Ahuva is very pleased to be a big sister at age two
and a half. As Ahuva would say, "He's a big one", weighting in at 9
lbs 4 oz (4.2 kg) and 21.5 inches (54.6 cm). Baby and mother are
both doing exceptionally well -- Laura looks terrific, is not too
tired, and expects to come home on Sunday.
*In keeping with ancient custom, his parents are keeping his name a
secret until his bris at age 8 days.
Mark

A priceless donation that costs nothing

2009-06-15T13:59:00.000-04:00

I’m very excited to report that my birth hospital accepts donations for cord blood. I’ve done my research and strongly encourage you to look into this mitzvah opportunity for your baby:

http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_Blood_Share_Life/How_to_Donate_Cord_Blood/index.html

Note: This is *not* the “bank your baby’s cord blood” guilt-and-fear-inducing RACKET where it is (maybe) stored for the 1 in 1,000,000 chance that your baby or someone in your family will – G-d forbid – need that blood someday. Rather, it’s kept in a bank where it can be used someone - anyone who needs it to live. It costs you nothing and causes no pain to you or your baby to donate. Please spread the word. Think about it: if everyone donate, then everyone who could benefit from a transplant could have access to the matched blood they needed without anyone paying the rip-off fees of the private banks.

Diapers.com discount

2009-05-06T09:49:00.001-04:00

They now have a lot more than diapers, incluidng maternity wear and baby gifts.
Save $10 on your first order at www.diapers.com when you enter the code IMAMA10.

Triple washed and ready to eat

2009-04-29T18:11:00.000-04:00

Those have to be 6 of my favorite words when it comes to salad greens. Equally exciting to me is that for the last two days I’ve been able to actually eat salad for lunch.

I made a rather delicious one by combining:

· Spinach leaves

· Red seedless grapes

· Avocado

· Fresh thyme leaves

· Chunks of yummy cheese

· Dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pepper, and sea salt

Why is this so exciting? Because well past the 1^st trimester, I’ve experienced so-called “morning sickness”. Mine is usually worse in the evenings. It flared up again during and after traveling too. If Ahuva’s pregnancy is any predictor, I can expect to have some vomiting all the way through to the end.

Some more good news, I just read that morning sickness is associated with high IQs of babies: http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/archive/2009/04/24/sick-in-the-morning-good-your-kids-will-thank-you.aspx

Yes, I am now (quite) pregnant again. Expecting Bambino, a boy, August 6^th.

Pasta!

2009-04-28T09:28:00.001-04:00

Yesterday morning in the kitchen, Ahuva said, “I wanna work with FLOUR.”

“Great!” I said. “We can make pasta.”

I took out a big blue bowl and put it on the low end table that is her work station. She knelt on the little white stool and helped me measure the following ingredients. First the dry, then making a well in the center we added the wet:

Ingredients

· 2 c. all-purpose flour (I would try substituting 1 c. whole wheat next time)

· 1 c. semolina flour (YUM!)

· ½ tsp. salt (I think it needs more)

· 2 eggs, plus 4 egg yolks, beaten together (Or, I followed the recipes suggestion and “For a nutritional boost, replace one of the eggs with ½ c. pureed beans or vegetables.” That comes to 2 2 oz. jars or one 4 oz. jar Earth’s Best baby food. I used Spinach and potato flavor and used 3 full eggs which I did not bother to beat together first).

Working with spoons and hands, we combined the ingredients and formed a stiff dough. It was not unlike play dough. But at this point Ahuva wanted to wash her hands and left me to knead the dough “until just smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes”. Well, closer to the 5.

I refrigerated the dough in a little container and took Huvie off to school.

In the evening, with lots of extra semolina flour around to sprinkle, I rolled out the dough until it was nearly paper-thin. I used a bottle to do this. Then I cut the dough in uneven strips using a pizza cutter. I was aiming for spaghetti but mostly got closer to the kind of egg noodle you put in kuggel. No matter.

It is already summer-like here and Aba and Ahuva ended up staying a very long time at the playground with many of her classmates. They came home happy, flushed, dirty and hungry.

Water boiling, I discovered that much of my laboriously cut pasta strips (it took considerably longer than the listed “30 minutes active time” to create them, especially if you discount the morning efforts of ~10 min) had turned into tangled pasta mass.

“What’s that?” asked Ahuva.

“That’s pasta,” I said, “You made it, remember? We’re going to cook it now. Here, help me untangle these.”

“Yah!” But her little hands pressed further, making doughy masses that were even more stuck.

“I wanna eat it!” she said. I let her try a bite, forgetting for a moment that it contained raw egg, remembering only the pleasure of raw dough and wanting to let her experience that.

“Mmmm, pasta!” she declared, reaching for a fist-full of dough.

“Noooooo! We have to cook it first!”. I had to confiscate the bowl. I salvaged what I could from the strips and while they boiled, set about re-forming the tangled masses with aid of bottle and pizza cutter into whatever I could quickly create: thick new rolls and chunky little gnocchi-esque cubes or mushed cubes approximating orecchiette.

The noodles emerged thick and chewey from the pot. I didn’t think they tasted so hot when I took them out. They needed salt and were a bit bland. But at the table with additions of butter, parmesan cheese, some lovely grey French sea salt and some broccoli I’d pan-steamed with garlic, they were delish. Both Ahuva and Aba cried for “MORE!”. There were just enough left to pack in her lunch box for the next day.

I will try to score a pasta maker on www.freecycle.org next time I have something to offer there since it seems like the rolling out the dough was (for me) the hardest part. With slightly bigger kids, I imagine that could be a fun, play dough like task.

OLPC

2008-11-16T11:31:00.002-05:00

Give one, get one, change the world: http://www.laptop.org/

Cooking MORE Cholent

2008-09-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

No, no. As soon as I wrote that title I realized you might get the wrong idea. So let me dispel rumors right now. I’m not pregnant again. Yet. Not that I’d tell you right away if I were.

I thought to call this entry “Cookin’ Cholent II: Electric Boogaloo” because I love calling things “X II: Electric Boogaloo”. But that wouldn’t be accurate either. Because unlike the classic film, Breakin' 2 - Electric Boogaloo it’s not a totally new version that has utterly no relationship to the original. Rather, I want to give new meaning to the old blog. Why? Because it is here that I did my best writing for a while. Or at least, I did writing. And as my brother says, “DONE IS BETTER THAN GOOD”. I had readers. I had all my passwords and options set up. And I had fun.

To take an example from the high-tech world in which I work, the baby code-named “Cholent” has been delivered, released as you will, as a fully functioning product. You may know her as Ahuva Yonit. But the metaphor of “Cooking Cholent” still works nicely as a title for a blog full of ruminations on a little of this, a little of that. On the bits and pieces and influential spices that make up dish of my life. And oh yeah, it’s about cooking too.

A visiting friend I hadn’t seen in a while asked me if I was still cooking as much as when I was pregnant. I was surprised. I cook almost every day for my family. I spend an incredible amount of physical and psychic energy planning, shopping for, preparing, and cleaning up meals. What’s changed is that I no longer had any time to write about it.

Actually, everything’s changed.

I have a walking, talking toddler now instead of a mysterious creature in my belly. I have a newish job and newish apartment in an old\new city. I have new friends and new relationships with old ones. I have a new nephew. Two new nephews, in fact.

New pressures and new rewards.

War is not good for anything. But it was rather good for writing. It gave me a sense of urgency as well as an outlet for fears and confusions. Still, it’s better not to live in a war. I always say that I have zero interest in extreme sports because real life is exciting enough. Well, let me put that to the test.

Welcome back, blog fans!

Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day.

2008-05-20T10:10:00.001-04:00

— Anonymous quote

Time to blog again?

2008-05-15T16:04:00.001-04:00

Since I got back from Seattle last week, there's a new world order in our house. Adi initiated it. Instead of me doing the bath -> bed routine that by necessity immediately follows dinner, we're alternating nights. So every other night I get to do a little more work, read some emails, make a phone call, take a shower BY MYSELF or even (dare I dream it): sit on the couch and read. It seems like a tiny thing, to gain an hour or two every other night (depending on how long it takes to clean up the post-dinner mess which can be considerable). But it's life changing.
More than ever I now look forward to my turn to play in the bath, read a book, snuggle and sing until twisting, turning and sometimes crying gives way to slumber.

Last night I put two capfuls of Elmo Wild Watermelon bubble bath in the bath with us. Ahuva gave that raised eye-brow look of awe that I love and softly, reverently, said "buh-boul". She was a little disturbed when rubber ducky disappeared within the foam and relieved to see him reappear. She played with her pirate toys, asked for more and more and more baby toothpaste on her brush. And something new: she rubbed her little hands on the giant bar of soap and instead of cleaning and re-cleaning her bulging little tummy she leaned over and said "Mama" and washed my collar bones. We were both very pleased.

Cholent Checklist

2007-05-14T14:54:00.000-04:00

Every time I make cholent, it seems when I wake up the next morning to smell that delicious smell, I'm also struck by a "D'oh!" feeling as I remember failing to add some ingredient I wanted to include. Of course the beauty of cholent is that it's wildly open to variations. No two of my cholents come out alike. But with practice, they have gotten consistently better. And so, rather than a recipe, I conclude this blog with a checklist of required and optional ingredients. I plan to return to tweak the format a bit. And I will happily post your comments. Happy Cholenting!

Required Ingredients

One teaspoon of jam*
Some form of beans: kidney beans, chick peas, white beans or a mixture
Rice or barley
Spices: which ones? NOT salt. Paprica, a dash of cinnamon... pepper, Chinese 5 spice works wonders.

Optional Ingredients

Potatoes. Washed, cut into walnut-sized chunks.
Sweet Potatoes
Carrots
Prunes
Eggs. Whole. Put them uncooked on top of everything else.
Meat. Browned.**
Onions.
Garlic
Kishkes
Stuffed eggplants for hamin (see recipe)

*Not sugar, not catsup. Jam. Any kind. Just a teaspoonful. No idea why, but it works.

** Highly recommended. Even as a long-term vegetarian, I have to admit the meat makes a difference. A huge time saver is to create what my mother invented as "cholent active packs". Buy a bunch of meat, brown it with onions and freeze in separate packs. When Friday comes, just take out a pack (no need to defrost) and add all the other ingredients.

A wrap

2007-05-14T14:44:00.001-04:00

It's about a year since I started this blog. The war is mercifully over.

"Cholent" is fully cooked and then some. Now we call her "pitzkele Oyfele" - little chicken in Yiddish.

And we're getting ready to start our next life's adventure.

So I'm going to wrap up this blog.

If you're interested in joining us for the next chapter, check out my new blog: www.neualtland.blogspot.com.

And I'm going to leave you with something useful and delicious in my final post.

Keep cooking!

Love,

Furnished Apartment to rent in Haifa - great for visiting academic!

2007-05-10T04:39:00.001-04:00

We're going abroad for 5 years and so our apt. is available. Please forward freely..

Clean, comfortable apartment in the heart of Mount Carmel's Ahuza neighborhood. $750/month

Perfect for visiting couple or small family!

2.5 bedrooms, 2 American-style baths (one with shower, one with giant bathtub). Fully-firnished. Central heating & air conditioning. Quiet, yet centrally-located Ahuza location (Moria Ave.) within short walk of all conveniences: shops, cafes, public transportation. Modern kitchen with all appliances (dishwasher, oven, stove, microwave, toaster oven, soda maker, complete set of dishes and cookware). Each bedroom has a full-sized bed + linens, towels. American Maytag washer and dryer. Available July 30, 2007 for up to 5 years. Private parking for one car.

Photos http://www.ahuva.phanfare.com/album/239063

Non-smoking long-term renters prefered.

Details, questions please respond to this post.

Big News

2007-03-30T06:59:00.000-04:00

I've told my boss so now I can tell you all, my dear readers. Adi was accepted for graduate studies at his top choice school, Columbia University. He will start classes in fall 2007 towards a combined MA/PHd in Yiddish Literature. This means that we will leave Haifa, my home of ten years and instead will live within blocks of my parents. My aunt reports that since they heard the news, my parents feet have not touched the ground!

Meanwhile, I am sad to be leaving my sunny neighborhood in the Carmel which I have grown to enjoy and appreciate more than ever these past few weeks on daily walks with Ahuva. However, I'm looking forward to embarking on our little family's new adventure and to being reunited with family and friends in the Old Country.

After Passover, I will return to work part time until the move at which point I will resign from MegaCorp after over ten years of service. I plan instead to start my own consulting business from home, doing usability consulting and a bit of techinical writing and training.

All's Well

2007-02-27T05:18:00.000-05:00

Ahuva rocked her well baby checkup at tipat chalav today. Both nurse and doctor were impressed with her development. I'm sorry I didn't bring a camera to capture her smiling at dr. with stethascope pressed to her little chest. She is an impressive 6.6 kilos (14 and a half lbs.), 59 cm in length.

She also had some vaccinations - not fun. These may cause fever so we bought some baby tylenol as advised.

This weekend we went on our first family trip. It was wonderful. We stayed at a kibbutz guest house way up north and visited the Hula Valley nature reserve. Little did we know it, but they offered 3-person side-by-side bikes for visiting the 10 KM trail. Perfect for us! With car seat in the middle for Ahuva, we were able to get excercise and stop and start as we liked. Well, Ahuva didn't much care for stopping!

Erster Urlaub

2007-02-26T09:51:00.000-05:00

A Visit in the Village

2007-02-22T14:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Ahuva and I made our farthest trip yet, to visit our friends in Dalyat-al-Karmel. As you can see, it was a beautiful day and Ahuva was treated royally.

Mitzva Making

2007-02-22T14:29:00.000-05:00

I dressed Ahuva up in her first dress (thank you cool R.I. cousins!!) for her first shiva call. Sadly, a dear family friend passed away. Ahuva was well behaved during the visit and brought some smiles to the mourners.

Smiling

2007-02-20T01:37:00.000-05:00

Ahuva is doing more cooing and smiling.

She even made her first joke: In the middle of a smiling session she suddenly scrunched up her face as though unhappy. When my expression changed accordingly, she burst back into a smile as if to say "Ha, ha! Gotchu, Mommy!" If you're not laughing, well, I guess you had to be there. I was totally amused.

This weekend Ahuva successuflly appeared at a Bris for twin boys (little Amir may be in love with Ahuva), a dinner in a restaurant hosted by guests from abroad, and a Saturday outing to a fine Haifa cafe. Not too shabby!

This weekend we're planning a family OVERNIGHT adventure in the north at www.biktot10.com.

Baby Yoga

2007-02-10T12:48:00.000-05:00

Thursday Ahuva and I went to our first session of "Baby Yoga" class at a local "Mommy and Me" club called Tandu. It was totally silly and fun!
I told my mother I feared it would be "too yuppie".
"So what if it is? You're a bit of a yuppie. Be true to your class," she urged. I couldn't have been more glad that I did.
Unfortunatly, we were 30 min late and so missed hearing everyone's name and birth stories. We were slowed by a trip to Ahuva's nice doctor who confirmed that the many little red pimples that come and go on Ahuva's face are totally harmless. Dr. K. says no one knows why they come, and that they will dispear. We thought they were do to maternal hormones ingested through my milk, or worse, that they might be alergy related. I was NOT enthusiastic about the idea of keeping a food journal as my lactation consulatant recommended, so I braved the long wait to see Dr. K. though it meant being late to baby yoga.
I heard Ahuva poop loudly while we were waiting at Dr. K's so as soon as we got to Tandu I knew the 1st order of business was a diaper change. This would be my first public change. The friendly owner held Ahuva while I used the bathroom. She then led me into the yoga room where the class was already in progress.
The floor was carpeted with thick mats. Around the edges mothers perched on fat puffy pillows, their babies spread out on towels in front of them. Ahuva and I were led to a corner where I dumped our belongings. A grandmother sitting next to me willingly held Ahuva while I set up her blanket and prepared to change her. Meanwhile the teacher was explaining the benefits of baby yoga, how it stimulates good digrestion, improves imune functioning, encourages healthy development, and promotes confidence in infants.
Whatever, I was just really happy to have a fun reason to leave the house with Ahuva!
Butt cleaned, I was just about to put on a fresh diaper when the teacher announced, "OK, we're going to get started. You can take off your baby's clothes, even their diaper!". Most of the mommies seemed skeptical about that idea. But since I hadn't yet put on her fresh diaper, I thought we'd give it a try. Luckily, the clean diaper was lying under her while I removed her outerwear top because she peed directly on it! That was great, because I was fairly sure that it meant she wouldn't do so again for at least a few minutes. As urged, I put a cloth diaper under her just in case. Ahuva's cloth nankies are hot pink. They were a fabulous gift from my cousin Cath who dyed them that fabulous color. I could tell they were the envy of my neighbors.
Following instructions from the teacher, we "asked permission" to massage our babies and then began, using almond oil distributed by an assistant in little cups. We also held our mouths to our babies heads, bellies, and feet and emitted a loud HUMMMMM. It felt like we were communicating the OM vibration to our babies. I liked it and Ahuva seemed to like it.
I had worried that she'd sleep through class but no, she seemed pretty with it the whole time, alert and often smiling. I felt a little bummed that she wasn't giving me eye contact but prefered to stare left, towards the big mirror. But then I noticed that the two baby boys to my right were staring in our direction rather than at their mommies, so I felt better.
The time seemed to fly by. The class lasts nearly two hours which is good because it allows time for nurisng, napping, and diaper changing along the way as needed. There seemed to be a group melt-down towards the end, with one baby cry setting off the next. Ahuva joined in but was soothed by nursing.
We signed up for the 7 session package.
The two days since the class, I repeated what I remembered of the massage at home. Why not? She likes it and it's something to do with her other than nurse or change her or say "coo".

Ahuva, week 7

2007-02-10T12:11:00.000-05:00

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=151544362/a=3127449/t_=3127449

Polish Feast

2007-02-10T12:09:00.001-05:00

Sunday we had a real treat when Adi, Ahuva and I were invited to a dinner hosted by our neighbor Lola. She is from Poland, a tough Holocaust survivor who came here via the detention camps in Cyprus after losing her entire family. She is now a great grandmother. She rocks.

The guests included Lola's grown son and daughter. They both were really nice. More shy than outgoing, fun-loving Lola, they are both sensitive and artistic. The main guests of honor were Lola's family visiting from Canada, the parents of our friend Y.

The evening was a rare treat for several reasons. We were totally relaxed, since Ahuva was mellow or sleeping the whole time and we only had to walk down one flight of stairs to get there. We really like spending time with Y. and his wife. Plus, there were many kind hands happy to hold Ahuva, especially Y's mother (not yet a grandmother, but clearly ready to become one!). She described that baby-to-chest holding as a "melting moment". Who could disagree?

The food was delicious! Lola had single-handedly prepared a real holiday feast: gefilte fish, chopped liver, and Polish eggplants for starters. Then outstanding mushroom blintzes. Next came a roasted chicken accompanied by Polish gnocchi, delicious with fried onions. Wow. To top it off we enjoyed a poppy seed packed cake baked by Lola's daughter. Perfect.

With Ahuva sleeping in the caring arms of others, I relished being able to eat "like a grown up". That is, slowly, relaxed, and with grown up conversation. I didn't have to calculate how to prepare and eat my meal using as few dishes and utensils as possible (to speed clean up). In fact, Lola even had little gold-plated dachshund knife holders at each place setting. Royal!

Baby Buddah in Lotus Pose

2007-02-09T07:50:00.000-05:00

One of the first positions we learned this week in "Baby Yoga" class.

Got Milk!

2007-01-29T19:34:00.001-05:00

Big success with those precious 100ml of my milk today. I felt more better about leaving the house when wonderful nanny N. came in the afternoon, knowing there was breast milk on hand. She drank some of it then. Later, during the peak of the "Cluster Feed" cycle, Adi gave her more, enabling me to prepare dinner. Win, win!

"How's Aba as Ima?" (How's father as mother?) I heard Adi asking a happy Ahuva as he fed her, sitting as I do with the nursing pillow. Pure pleasure, seeing them like that.

Bath Time

2007-01-29T19:19:00.000-05:00

She enjoys!

La Leche League

2007-01-29T18:58:00.000-05:00

In an effort to get out of the house and meet other new mommies, I went to a local meeting of la leche league (www.laleche.org) yesterday morning. It was a short drive from home, making it a major milestone: my first solo drive with Ahuva. I was pretty calm, checking to make sure she was breathing at read lights only. I could see her purple fleece hat rising and falling as her little head moved - but not too much thanks to a super little head\neck pillow she got as a great gift from J.

When I arrived there was one other Mommy there. She was nursing a baby who was a week or two older than Ahuva - and not nearly as big or robust! There was a counselor and another woman - counselor in training? who never introduced ourselves. We introduced ourselves and had the chance to ask questions. I got one of my questions answered. What to do when I feel I'm becoming a human pacifier? That is, when sucking continues but feeding is done. Well it was sort of an answer. One option: so what? If she's happy who cares? Other option: so what? break the suction and remove her. Hmm. OK.

Then about half an hour into the meeting, another mother burst in. She was carrying a baby who turned out to be her FOURTH child. Before she set him down in his carseat carrier, the other mother said, "Are you coming to my house for coffee afterwards?". Hmpfh. Not that I wanted to join them but that was kind of rude, to say the least. New mother - who looked younger than me and in amazing shape for being the mother of four, the youngest also a week or two older than Ahuva (but again, much smaller! HA!) - totally dominated conversation. Without introducing herself either, she launched into animated tirades about all sorts of things. I listened, a little stunned.

Eventually (when new mother loudly answered a cell phone call) I got to sneak in my next question: is there a trick to pumping? Answer: yes! Pump in the morning when there's the most milk. Nurse on the other breast while you pump since cute baby sucking will stimulate the "let down reflex". I tried it this morning while watching "An Inconvenient Truth" and it worked! Well, pretty well. I got 100 ml, more than my previous pathetic yields. Enough to give me confidence to leave Ahuva with the wonderful sitter for a while while I came here to my favorite cafe to write this blog. Not bad.

The other useful thing I learned was that Ahuva's evening fussy, hungry period in the evenings has a name: cluster feeding. The idea is that she's getting high-calorie, denser milk to stock her up for the night. So our intuition - that it's worth 2-3 tough hours to get a good night's sleep - is true. What to do? One suggestion is to have a bottle ready to give her after nursing, to satisfy her hunger. Another theory is to get her to bed earlier. We tried that yesterday. So-so results.

I don't think I'll be going back to the meetings since I did not feel great so simpatico with the other women. But I came home feeling more confident. Even though the counselor "corrected" my nursing hold during the meeting, I came home quite sure that Ahuva and I are doing SOMETHING right given her healthy size.

OK, time to run home!

Photo site

2007-01-28T13:46:00.000-05:00

Sending pics via mail is tiresome.
See http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahuva/
http://www.flickr.com/people/ahuva/ for pics.

Pink Elvis

2007-01-28T13:22:00.000-05:00

I heard sounds that made me SURE we'd have to combine diaper change with bath but when we got everything set up and I put her down to undress her, it turned out she was fast asleep. I love the upraised colars on these Carter's onsies. This one (a great gift from P & S in Florida) has cute pink bows on the feet and wrists.

Postpartum Survival Kit

2007-01-27T05:08:00.001-05:00

Here are some items I found truly useful in the first joyful yet confusing, painful, teary, and overwhelming days after Ahuva's birth and beyond. I am grateful to friends who clued me in to some of these. Others I picked up from various lists on the web and in books. Others I learned about the (very) hard way. I share this list with you, pregnant woman, not to scare you but to give you a realistic idea of what's to come. I hope you won't need any of this stuff, but, in the (likely) case you do, well, at least you will have been warned! It WILL be OK, you WILL survive this!

DISPOSABLE UNDERWEAR - It was even worth a trip to the dreaded mall for me to buy some. At SHILAV, I recommend you buy the cheapest kind. They look like boxy nets but as a result they are the most breathable. Believe me, you will not be auditioning for any fashion shows any time soon. Also, this model is easier to rinse out and wear again. Take them with you to the hospital so that bringing home bloody underwear is one less thing you'll have to deal with.

EYE MASK - Because "night" and "day" as you know them will cease to have meaning. You must sleep whenever you can. This will help.

NOVA-LI PADS (cheap sanitary napkins) - You will have "discharge" of one kind of another for quite a while. Most women will advise you to bring your own favorite pads to the hospital. In fact, I found the bulky, non-adhesive pads supplied for free by the hospital to be just fine. They're more breathable than the more expensive Kotex or Always I usually buy which have a sort of plastic liner. Also, in the beginning you will really not want to deal with "wings" or any extra anything to deal with. It's not like they're going to "fly away" anywhere. By using these cheap ones, you won't feel bad about changing them a million times a day or even using two at a time if you have to.

RAPHAEL NIPPLE CREAM - Smells funny, but it works. Apply after nursing to avoid or reduce irritation. Wipe off excess before nursing, but it's safe for baby too. Goes on easier than the Lanisol version I got from the US, but same idea.

NURSING PADS - Their purpose will be clear as soon as your milk comes in! Try to get some of the soft flannel ones that you can wash and reuse.

BUTT WIPES - Alas, I hope you will not need them, but you probably will, especially if you are fortunate to experience a natural or "regular" birth. Apparently when figuring out how to get the baby out, mother nature thought it wouldn't hurt for you to push out half of your ass as well. In fact, it hurts like HELL. For me, hemorrhoids were worse than the dreaded epistomy stitches which I didn't feel at all for over a week. I recommend the Dr. Fisher 9 months brand for the "intimi" area if you can find them. In the US, TUCKS wipes work well. Tip: you can leave one on top of your pad for extra relief. You will also need some kind of cream of your choice.

RESCUE REMEDY - This Bach flower potion sounds like bullshit, but trust me, it works and it's safe. Take before or after any stressful event such as oh, having a baby, or visiting with your in-laws.

MENTOS - Or other minty candy. Because you won't always have brushed your teeth when people come to visit you in the hospital. And sometimes you just want something sweet. Plus, you'll be thirsty ALL THE TIME.

SHOPPING LIST - Here are a bunch of things you should stock up on before you go to the hospital if you can. Or else, ask people to bring them to you.

WATER - you will be insanely thirsty.

SNACKS - dried fruit and nuts are great, high-calorie healthy foods

HERBAL TEA - chamomille, fennel (shumar) are recommended for nursing mothers

Motherhood

2007-01-25T12:54:00.001-05:00

It's official

2007-01-25T12:54:00.000-05:00

We went to register our marriage and Ahuva's birth at the Ministry of the Interior yesterday. Ahuva had her first subway ride! We took her in the Carmelit, Israel's only underground and the world's shortest subway line.

We also applied for a passport for her. Adi took her to get her passport photo. They require that your eyes be open for the photo. Ahuva did not exactly cooperate, so she looks a bit like Don Corleone in his later years in her passport photo. Very cute.

Had some trouble with blogger recently so sorry there haven't been new pics. Will try to rectify.

5 Kilos

2007-01-22T13:05:00.001-05:00

Ahuva had a hep B vaccination today at tipat chalav. I cried more than she did. She was asleep when we arrived and emitted only a single cry when nurse Ela injected the vaccine in her little thigh. I was holding her during the ordeal and shed several tears. Ahuva then woke up but stayed quiet. She now weighs 5 kilos and measures 57 cm, putting her at the 90th percentile for girls her age. She also has excellent proportions (height\weight ratio). She peed on the scale, showing good attitude!

I'm feeling much stronger and walked with Ahuva to the shopping center today to buy fish for dinner and butt wipes (for me, alas).

AAP Opposes Private Cord Blood Banking

2007-01-20T12:41:00.001-05:00

But Doctors Group Favors Public Storage Efforts

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/131/117947.htm?ecd=wnl_prg_011307

We decided not to do it, by the way...

Jackass

2007-01-20T12:17:00.001-05:00

A few nights ago when I got up for a feeding (or maybe just to go to the bathroom, or because I woke up sweating, or some combination of the above), I found Adi awake watching a movie called "Jackass". If you have not heard of the concept, you are probably not a young male. That's OK. I will attempt to enlighten you. It is a very popular series involving a bunch of guys who do really, really stupid masochistic "stunts". Some of the guys are buff and tattooed. One is very fat. One is a midget. The stunts are often performed half-naked, suggesting there is something else going on here. An example of a jackass stunt is a guy putting a fish hook through his cheek (yes, actually piercing his own flesh), then jumping into shark infested waters. The stunts don't last long. Pain is often involved, not to mention risk of really severe damage.

I've never understood the appeal of the show.

But suddenly I saw it in a whoooole new light. These guys should try childbirth if they want to experience a scary, painful, death-defying feat! Not one of the stunts I saw could even compare. Ha.

On our own

2007-01-13T04:52:00.000-05:00

After one fabulous, extraordinarily helpful month, my parents began their journey home. I felt pretty devistated, though I know that I am much stronger than that first impossible week home when I made my mother promise she wouldn't leave me if I wasn't OK. I still cry easier than normal but not constantly. I'm tired, but my body doesn't ache in every possible place all the time, just two or three tender areas. Ahuva has grown so much that she is easier to handle with confidence. I still have a hard time reading her "cues" but I'm trying to learn. Last night for instance, it was pretty clear to me and Adi that she was OVERTIRED but it wasn't obvious to us what to do about that until eventually the three of us just crashed in mutual exhaustion in our bed.

I will need ongoing help, as it was a major feat to get dinner on the table last night (I didn't get to eat it in one sitting either) even though all I had to do was put a dish in the oven that my mother prepared before she left.

Adi is happy to be facing the challenges of parenting together, just us and I guess it is time. For me, it was nice having two eager extra sets of hands to hold the baby, make home repairs, cook, straighten up, answer the phone and perhaps not least important two extra voices to provide a constant stream of encouragement and support. It was also just great having their companionship during the day while Adi is studying and most of my friends are working (I don't have a lot of energy to make plans yet anyway). Also of course in the middle of the night. My mother would sit with me and talk while I nursed or my father would take a kvetchy Ahuva so I could sleep without waking Adi.

Week 3

2007-01-13T02:17:00.000-05:00

We can't believe how quickly she grows! It feels like every time we pick her up after a nap she's gained weight. Her face is chubby cheeked and full, her grip and kick are so strong.

Ahuva Yonit at 2 weeks old

2007-01-07T09:50:00.001-05:00

Simchat Bat

2007-01-07T09:43:00.000-05:00

On Friday night we welcomed Ahuva Yonit into our tribe at the Moriah Synagogue. It was a stormy night and many people were unable to make it but we were thrilled by everyone who did manage to come. It was lovely.

Regular kabbalat shabbat services were given an extra boost of ruach, of spirit, by the presence of some thirty teenaged scouts attending a shabbaton at the shul. Together with our guests, we filled the cozy space. We hadn't really discussed or planned the ceremony in detail with the rabbi, but we couldn't have been more pleased if we had. During lecha dodi, a prayer which welcomes the sabbath queen, the rabbi signaled for me and Adi to take Ahuva back behind the congregation. I pried her out of her Bubbe's loving arms and we walked back where four cute young scouts were holding the four poles of a chuppa formed with a talit. Our little family stood under the shelter of the chuppa, much as Adi and I had stood at our own wedding back in March. One of the young scouts was quite short and Adi had to nudge him to hold his pole higher.

At the end of the prayer, the entire congregation rises and turns to face the door to welcome in the sabbath queen. Today, our Ahuva Yonit was symbolizing the sabbath queen! We then walked slowly and with great pride to the front of the congregation, escorted by our trusty scouts. The rabbi said a few words of blessing and mentioned that in the bible, it is Joseph's blessing for his sons, for the children, which is most significant. He also recalled how I had sent my parents racing from the hospital to the shul just seconds after delivering her on Thursday the 21st so that they could announce her name for the first time during an aliya at the sefer torah. Until that moment, Adi and I had successfully guarded the secret of her name as tightly as an envelope at the academy awards. I hadn't even written it down yet and had to scrawl it on a post-it, my hands unsteady, with Ahuva on my chest for the first time. I told the rabbi and the congregation that the idea of shaharit services at 8:30 had motivated me to get her out on time. There was a huge clock facing me in the delivery room and I kept hoping we'd make it on time.

The rabbi then asked the families to rise. Our parents, Ahuva's grandparents, were all seated in the front center row. On one side, Adi's aunt Noga, Uncle Israel, and cousin Tal rose. Together we said the shehechianu, the blessing thanking God for sustaining us to reach this moment.

Adi then read the text he prepared about Ahuva, explaining how his beloved grandmother inspired him to love the Hebrew language and pursuit of knowledge and that these were qualities we hoped for our Ahuva. I read the text I prepared on Yonit, the name chosen by my friend Janis Coulter. I expressed the hope that like Janis, our Ahuva Yonit would actively choose to live her life as a Jew, that she would be respectful of others, and that she would overcome adversity. (Full texts in the previous blog entry).

We returned to our seats until the end of services. After services, we gave our daughter the traditional blessing for daughters after the kiddush, that she may be like our foremothers. One and all then enjoyed the appetizers my parents ordered. There were salads, vegetables, cookies, fruits, and because she is a girl, strawberries! We had a few moments to visit with our friends and Ahuva's admirers. Ahuva collected some wonderful gifts, including a used stroller in excellent condition.

"It's like you're giving us a car!" I told Maggie, sincerely moved by this gift. A high school friend of Adi's showed up and even brought an adorable outfit. Friends of mine came all the way from their home north of Karmiel, and another dear family of friends who happened to be here from France were able to attend.

Ahuva Yonit, by the way, slept peacefully during the entire event! She only woke to be changed and fed when we got to her grandparents' house for dinner.

Ahuva Yonit

2007-01-07T09:21:00.000-05:00

For those of you interested in knowing a bit more about why we chose the names we did, here are the texts Adi and I prepared and read at her simchat bat ceremony last Friday.
We read them in Hebrew but I include our translations too.

אהובה מהלאל

אני מאד גאה לקרוא לבתי הבכורה על שם סבתי אהובה מהלאל זכרונה לברכה. אהובה עלתה לארץ בתור נערה מפולין כאשר בפיה כבר שגורה עברית מצוחצחת של הגימנסיה העברית שם. לימים היא גדלה להיות מורה ללשון עברית ומחנכת נערצת פה בחיפה. דמותה הייתה רבת השפעה עבור דורות של תלמידים, ולא בכדי הרופא שבדק את אהובה שלנו במכשיר האולטרהסאונד זכר שאהובה המורה אמרה לאימו שהוא יכול להיות תלמיד, אם רק ילמד. הערה אופיינית לסבתי שגם בי החדירה עמוק עמוק את האהבה ללמידה ,לקריאה לשפה העברית, ולרכישת ידע. גם לאחר שיצאה לגמלאות המשיכה אהובה יום-יום לפקוד את ספסל הלימודים באוניברסיטת חיפה ולהסעיר את שכלה החריף. תכונות שכולנו מאחלים לאהובה הקטנה שלנו.

בנוסף לכך, בשנותיה האחרונות לימדה אהובה את כולנו פרק בנאמנות, כאשר עמדה כל הדרך לצידו של בעלה, סבי המנוח שחר מהלאל, אשר הלך ודעך אט אט בשל מחלת אלצהיימר קשה. מותו היה קשה מנשוא עבורה והיא נפטרה כמה חודשים אחריו. אני מאחל ואני משוכנע שגם אהובה'לע הקטנה שלנו עוד תזכה לחוות רגשות עמוקים כל כך של אהבה בחייה. תודה לך אהובה-יונית שבבואך לעולם אפשרת לנו להיפרד פעם נוספת מסבתינו האהובה.

שבת שלום לכולם.

Ahuva Mahalel

I am very proud to name my first daughter after my beloved grandmother, Ahuva Mahalel, z"l. Ahuva made aliyah as a young girl from Poland. When she came she already had fluent Hebrew, which she had acquired at the Hebrew Gymnasium. She grew up to be a teacher of Hebrew grammar and was an admired educator here in Haifa. Her character had a great influence on generations of students. Even the doctor who checked our Ahuvale with ultrasound remembered that my grandmother had told his mother that he could be a student if only he would study….a typical remark by my grandmother who inspired me with a great love of learning, of books, of the Hebrew language, and of acquiring knowledge of all sorts. Even after she retired she kept attending Haifa University daily to stimulate her sharp mind. These are characteristics we all wish for our little Ahuva.

In addition, in her late years Ahuva taught us all a great lesson in loyalty when she stood by her husband, my late grandfather, Shahar Mahalel, who slowly faded away due to terrible Alzheimer's disease. His death was too much for her to bear and she passed away several months after he died.

I wish and am convinced that our little Ahuvale will experience such profound feelings of love in her life.

Thank you, Ahuva Yonit. By coming to the world you have allowed us to bid farewell once more to our beloved grandmother.

ג'ניס קולטר )יונית-רות(

המנהג לתת שם שני (middle name) מאפשר לנו לכבד את זכרה של נפש נוספת היקרה לליבנו. יונית הוא השם העברי שבחרה לעצמה חברתי הטובה ג'ניס קולטר. כשנרצחה ג'ניס בפיגוע בהר הצופים בחודש יולי 2002, תיארו אותה בעיתונות כדמות חשובה בקהילה היהודית. בשבילי, ג'ניס הייתה חברה יקרה ותומכת, אשת סודי.

הכרתי את ג'ניס כשהיא הייתה תלמידה באולפן בקיבוץ עין השופט, בקיץ 1996. אני הייתי מדריכה באולפן, ומכיוון שג'ניס הייתה מבוגרת ממני בכמה שנים וגם המבוגרת ביותר בין תלמידי האולפן, היינו צוחקות על כך שהיא החניכה המצטיינת שלי.

ג'ניס התגברה על אובדן ועל דיכאון, כשתמיד חיוך גדול על שפתיה המשוחות תמיד בשפתון מושלם.

"את הגיבורה שלי", נהגתי לומר לה, והיא הייתה עונה בצחוק מתגלגל.

יותר מכל אדם אחר שהכרתי, מימשה ג'ניס את מה שהגדיר הרב נחמן מברסלב כמצווה גדולה – להיות שמחה תמיד. היא גם תמיד ידעה כיצד לגרום לאנשים סביבה לחוש בנוח.

ג'ניס בחרה להיות יהודיה. אהובה-יונית שלנו נולדה כיהודיה, אבל לחיות את החיים כיהודי זה תמיד עניין של בחירה. אני מקווה שאהובה-יונית שלנו תבחר לעצמה חיים של אהבת תורה, עם ישראל ותרבותו. אני מקווה שהיא תאהב את אותם הדברים שאהבה ג'ניס-יונית-רות: משפחה, חברים, לימודים, ארץ ישראל ואת השבת.

אני מקווה שכמו ג'ניס, תתייחס אהובה-יונית לאנשים בסבלנות סובלנות ובכבוד, שתלמד להתגבר על אתגרים כשחיוך על שפתיה, ושהיא תזכיר לנו תמיד שזו מצווה גדולה להיות בשמחה תמיד.

Janis Ruth Coulter (Yonit Ruth)

The tradition of giving a middle name enables us to honor the memory of an additional soul who is dear to our hearts. Yonit is the Hebrew name that my dear friend, Janis Coulter, z"l, chose for herself. When Janis was murdered in a terror attack on Mount Scopus in July 2002 she was described in the newspapers as an important leader of the Jewish community. For me, Janis was a dear supportive friend and confidant.

I met Janis when she was a student in the Ulpan at Kibbutz Ein ha Shofet in the summer of 1996. I was a madricha and because Janis was a few years older than me and the oldest in the group, we used to joke that she was my "best camper".

Janis overcame loss and depression, always managing a big smile on her perfectly lipsticked lips. "You are my hero," I used to tell her and she would answer me with an infectious laugh. More than anyone else I ever knew, Janis exemplified what Rav Nachman of Breslav defined as "big mitzvah": to always be happy." She always knew how to make people feel at ease.

Janis chose to be a Jew. Our Ahuva Yonit was born Jewish, but to live your life as a Jew is always a matter of choice. I hope that our Ahuva Yonit will choose for herself a life filled with love of Torah, Israel, and Jewish culture. I hope that she will love the things that Janis loved: family, friends, studies, the land of Israel and Shabbat.

I hope that, like Janis, Ahuva Yonit will relate to people with respect and tolerance and that she will learn to face challenges with a smile on her lips and that she will always remind us that it is a great mitzvah to always be happy.

Bigger and Stronger

2007-01-05T18:40:00.000-05:00

We're all feeling a lot stronger. And Ahuva is getting much bigger! Yesterday I saw her newborn pics and barely recognized her. She now has full creamy cheeks and opens her blue-black eyes wider and wider. Her hair seems to be getting fairer.

I'm feeling like myself for longer stretches each day. But my time and energy is still all focued on eating, resting, and feeding with bathing in between.

We had a big milestone yesterday, venturing outside the home for a stroll in the neighborhood. I carried Ahuva in my chic purple Moby D wrap (a limited edition, mind you! A fabulous gift from Heller, thank you!!!). It was a huge hit. I got it wrapped on the first try (following the printed directions). Ahuva loved it. She fell into a deep sleep within steps of the house. My parents accompanied me as we made some rounds, showing her off to my dear manicurist and the girls at Sylva cafe. We stopped there for a coffee and a pastry shaped like a breast. Seemed appropriate!

Amazing how time takes on a new meaning and just getting clothes on and going down the block for a coffee becomes a fulfiling expidition!

Photos of Ahuva, round 2

2007-01-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=151013667/a=6178195/t_=6
178195

Faye Levy!

2007-01-04T05:46:00.000-05:00

How cool! I got this post on my blog (repeating here because the replies sort of get burried unless you expand 'em):

Hi Zehava,

Congratulations! I hope you'll have much joy from Ahuva!

I enjoy your lively writing style and your sense of humor.

Some weeks ago you mentioned your "Faye Levy project" and I have to say, I've never been a project before! What did you mean - cooking from my articles?

Best of luck in all your projects, and happy 2007,

Thank you!

What I mean is that sometime during pregnancy, I started working my way through all the recipes in your book Faye Levy's International Jewish Cookbook. I received the book as a graduation gift from my aunt in 1992. I was inspired to make it a "project" after reading the wonderful book Julie and Julia while on bed rest in the 2nd trimester. That book describes a young woman's valiant attempt to cook every single recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking within a year.

My mother is cooking for me now and may attempt some new recipes from your book!

Lacrimone

2007-01-03T02:25:00.001-05:00

It turns out that the hormone, lacrimone, that makes the milk flow ALSO makes tears flow (as in lactate, but also as in lacrimonious). So this makes it really, really easy to cry now. Example: A few days after coming home from the hospital we were sitting at breakfast when Adi mentioned that James Brown had died.

"Don't tell me you cried," Katus asked when I told her. Of course I did! And how!

But when asked if the reaction was the same in response to Gerald Ford's passing, the answer is no. With no disrespect to the former president, I have to admit that I thought he was dead already.

One Week Old

2006-12-29T04:31:00.000-05:00

Baby Girl

2006-12-28T10:35:00.000-05:00

Proud parents Adi and Laura Mahalel are thrilled to announce the arrival of Ahuva Yonit Mahalel, born December 21 by regular delivery at Bnai Zion hospital, Haifa, 8:18 AM weighing 3.4 kilos.

Mother and baby are healthy and well, thank God.

Ahuva, meaning "beloved", is named for Adi's paternal grandmother, Ahuva Mahalel, of blessed memory. Yonit, meaning "dove", was the Hebrew name Laura's dearly missed friend friend Janis Ruth Coulter chose for herself.

So far she is a good little eater and sleeper!

Laura and Adi

P.S. Sorry if you heard already and sorry if you didn't yet.. it's been a joyous, exhausting, unbelievable week! We appreciate your good wishes and might take a while to respond...

Eat, Sleep, and Nurse

2006-12-28T10:15:00.003-05:00

I know that my only jobs right now are to eat, sleep and nurse. Pretty much the same job description as Ahuva has now. She's much better at it than I am. She's proving to be a pro at eating and sleeping and pooping. That last task, a necessary bi-product of the eating task, is very painful for me now quite a production. I'm enjoying the nursing though. She took to my breast right away, increasing my confidence. I had read several books on the subject and asked for tips in the hospital from the lactation consultant. On Sunday, Wendy B., our birth prep class teacher came for a consultation too. She made useful adjustments in my posture and gave a thumbs up to a daily glass of wine or beer. Ahuva starred during that session, nursing the full hour she was here.

My milk came in on Sunday or Monday. It's hard to have a sense of days or time at all.

I feel happiest when I'm nursing, gazing at her gorgeous face. Sometimes she looks back at me with big grey-blue-black eyes. Often her eyes are closed, but a little click-click-click sound and rythmyic movements of her head and neck assure me that she's focuesed on her task.

I had heard about sleep depravation but I was not prepared for how physically wrecked I'd be feeling after delivery. My whole body aches. I had cramping and back pain so bad that I was shaking and thought about going to the E.R. But the fear of being separated from my baby made me tough it out with a hot bath. The following night I didn't sleep even when she did because of pain. Insane by morning, I spoke with my Dr. who said there was no choice but to go to the hospital for an exam (this was my nice general doctor, my ob-gyn is still in Thailand and his replacement who pushed out my placenta was gruff on the phone and said the same thing: "It should hurt, but not that bad, if it does, come to the hospital".)

So Tuesday after a good long nursing I went to the hospital. It was torture. They sent me up and down the elevator, at least 6 floor changes. Ultrasound showed nothing wrong thank God, no pieces still inside me or anything. Maybe the myomas (fibroids) make the natural contractions worse. Long story short, to get out of there I had to throw a fit (crying gets FAST attention in Israel).

I am grateful for all the calls and emails. I hope you understand that so far it has not been possible for me to do more than return one call a day if that and that I'm barely up for visitors.

Grateful, Happy, Overwhelmed

2006-12-28T10:15:00.001-05:00

I feel the need to clarify after my last post. Despite feeling beyond exhausted and totally insane part of the time, I am also totally grateful and thrilled. Thank God she is perfectly healthy and beautiful! Thanks to my dear Adi for giving me this gift and for encouraging and supporting me. And thanks to my amazing parents who are not only gushing with admiration for Ahuva but are also taking care of me: feeding me, shopping for me, and shielding me from overdoing it.

If you can SMS me rather than call me, that's the best for now.

Love and thanks to all my friends, family, and other reader fans.

Photos

2006-12-25T13:01:00.001-05:00

Try clicking on the line below. If that doesn't work try copying
this and pasting it into your browser

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=870231166868267820/l=235311802/g=6178195/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

A beautiful baby girl has arrived!

2006-12-21T04:27:00.001-05:00

Zahava gave birth at about 8:20 this morning at Bene Zion Hospital in Haifa. It was a very long and so a difficult labor, but mother and daughter are both fine. Adi was wonderfully supportive, and Barbara did her best. (They let the husband and the mother into the birthing room.) The midwife, Bat-Zion, was great. We don't know the ht and weight statistics yet -- right after the birth we had to run to the synagogue for a naming ceremony so we could use the baby's name: Ahuva Yonit, which means "beloved" and "dove".

When last seen, Ahuva Yonit was on her mama’s belly turning pink!

I put on the makeup

2006-12-20T11:55:00.001-05:00

So it will be easy for me. We're going out the door.

Contractions Continuing...

2006-12-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Slept through the night, waking every hour or so for a contraction and going right back to sleep. Frequency has been increasing hour by hour but still not up to the go to the hospital strength, duration, or frequency.
Staying chill, hangin' with my 'rents. Doing stuff around the house, went for a walk (it's a nice day).
Will be happy if she shows up today. Trying to stay cool if she's not yet ready.

Week 40

2006-12-19T01:22:00.001-05:00

Here I am after a contraction. Biiiig belly! Contractions started last night but are still mildish and randomly spaced. So we're just chilling. Most of the day I felt like lying around so I did. In the evening Adi and I took a little stroll around the block after we lit our Hanukah candles, retracing our steps to a spot we sat on three years ago also during Hanukah when my parents were visiting.
Her room is really nice with a new POANG Ikea chair for me and a dresser full of clothes for her... we're ready when she is!

Something is Happening

2006-12-19T01:22:00.000-05:00

Had mild, period-cramp like contractions all night. I'm not in active labor yet but something is going on!
Please share your blessings and wish us luck!

The Last Few Days

2006-12-19T01:16:00.000-05:00

The last few days have been so up and down. Moments of excitement and exhilaration, moments of utter meltdown exhaustion moodiness.
My parents arrived Thursday. It is great to have them here and to have them here now. I'm trying to get into the habit of accepting help. I think part of my melt down is just being able to, able to let my Mommy and Daddy take care of me and not have poor Adi shoulder the whole burden of my hormonal insanity.
I have felt pretty strange. Physically just big and tired, with my belly clearly lower than it was, my hip joints looser, my waddle more pronounced. Vicious "red ear" hot flash like symptoms in the afternoon. But mostly weird feelings in the moods. Sometimes fine, then with a flash I fell into Zombie mode. One incarnation I became totally bossy, forcing Adi & the 'rents into completing an important task together with me without break.
The Zombie modes are scary because they feel like they won't end. But they do.
In between, some wonderful productive things have happened: we got windows in Cholent's room and bought a beautiful rug! We helped Adi complete a major academic milestone. We got my mother used to the workings of my kitchen. My father got used to driving my car. My parents got re-acquainted with the neighborhood. And we had some lovely Hanuka celebrations with Adi's family and cousins.

No Sleep Till Brooklyn\Cholent

2006-12-14T09:42:00.000-05:00

That assistant blogger post is from my dear mama who arrived today with my dear papa to help with Cholent. They'll be here for a month and are now sleeping, cute and snug as two bugs in a rug, in the guest room\Adi's study.
My mother was practicing posting for when Cholent arrives, so she can keep you all posted.
Meanwhile, as I type, Ahmed and crew are here starting to set up the WINDOWS in her bedroom. I'm thrilled! They should be done tomorrow. We just need a rug and we can start setting up that room. Enough of this supersticious waiting. I think it's time to start unpacking her cute little clothes (of which we've already got BUCKETS) into her dresser.
And how am *I* feeling? The book we love has weekly chapters with updates on "your baby" and "How YOOUOOUOUOUOU might be feeling" (Adi always reads the "you" like that). So meeeeeeeeee. Well I am feeling VERY VERY STRANGE. Strangely. Not so much physically though that too. Physically, I feel I have acquired the dimensions of Azimat, Borat's sidekick. If you don't know what I'm talking about, what are you waiting for? Go see the movie already! At least, as Adi points out, though my belly may sit on my thighs when I sit, at least I am not HAIRY. Phew! At least that!
What I'm feeling is well the best description I can think of is like the feeling you get when you're on a really, really long trip. At various turns utterly exhausted, then exhilarated, sometimes bored, confused, sometimes frustrated, sometimes so happy. Awake at the wrong times. And sometimes the body wants sleep but the mind will not follow, leaving me feeling a bit like a giant brick. Or ton of bricks. Imobile. Yet, thinking. Other times my thinking is muddled and my mood can turn with amazing speed. In short I guess my hormones are making me feel what a baby feels. Or something like that.
That Beastie Boys song, "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" captures it, this feeling. No other way to explain it really.
A persistent, wierd daze I would like to end though I can't and it's not entirely bad either.

Assistant Blogger

2006-12-12T10:16:00.001-05:00

I am getting ready to leave New York tomorrow to fly to Israel. The last trip was for Zahava’s & Adi’s beautiful wedding. This time is to joyfully welcome Cholent to the world! When the new parents are otherwise occupied, I will update the blog-sters around the world with the news. This is my practice run!

Nesting II

2006-12-12T04:17:00.000-05:00

Nope, not yet.
But she's getting closer, bigger, more insistent in her kicking.
We went to the Dr. last night. He informed us he'd be flying to Thailand in two days but gave a detailed note for the attending physician and maternity ward crew outlining my situation.
No opening yet but there's some effacement and her head is good and down so all systems on track for her Dec 20 due date.
Meanwhile I'm feeling really, really big. And tired, clumsy, a bit frustrated. I finally understand why women get interested in inducing labor. We're not quite ready yet though. Still want to finish a few projects. My parents arrive Thursday and the windows are not yet here. So meanwhile, got to keep breathing.
A few friends have given the green light to a little liquor too. So far no need.
The most annoying thing people can tell me now is to get sleep now while I can. I'm trying! But it's very difficult to roll over now and I wake up a lot in the night. Last night I was awake for a long time but decided to just stay imobile, my eyes closed. That was a good strategy because I eventually did fall back asleep and woke up reasonably rested.
Winding down to stop working Thursday at the latest.
Have figured out how to create blog posts by sending email, so I promise to do my best to alert you all when contractions do start.
Meanwhile, please keep sending me your positive energy!
Oh, and this made me laugh so very hard, a much needed (enormous) belly laugh:

The Name Game II

2006-12-09T01:53:00.001-05:00

My favorite Hebrew weekly newspaper, Sha'ar L'Matchil (Gateway for the Beginer - offering news in easy Hebrew) recently reported on the most popular names in Israel for 2005 as compiled by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Top girl's name = Noa, with 3% of baby girls getting that name. (The biblical ark builder, Noah, is pronounced very differently in Hebrew, No-ach).
Top boy's name = Uri, with 2.1% of baby boys getting that name.
Next top boy names:

Noam (pleasantness)
Itay
Ido
David
Roi (shepard)
Amit (friend)
Yosef (Joseph)
Moshe (Moses)
Yonatan (Jonathan)

Next top girl names and their English meanings:

Shira (song)
Agam (lake)
Maya
Tamar (data palm)
Roni (happiness?)
Yael (mountain goat)
Adi (jewel, precious stone)
Sarah
Yovel (jubilee)

And some new girls names that made the list too:

Elia
Gaya
Alma
Oryan
Yaheli
Noya
Chava
Liam
Tohar
Tair
Nama

Not many changes in boys names.

In 2005, 144 thousand babies were born in Israel. 23% Muslim, 74% Jewish.

Most popular Muslim names included Mohamed (14%!!), Ahmed, Machmoud, Machmad. The most popular Muslim girl name was Aya. Among Christian boys, the most popular names were Elias (Elijah), George, and Fadi. Among Christian girls: Nicole, Natalie, Maya.

And nope, Cholent's name to be is not on the lists but we're not telling yet!

38 Weeks and Counting

2006-12-08T01:26:00.001-05:00

Each week, each day, sometimes each minute of the pregnancy is different. Physically, mentally, emotionally. Sometimes it feels like I'm on a racing roller coaster, sometimes I'm watching the landscape change from the window of a train, sometimes I'm stuck in traffic or waiting at the airline gate.
I'm well aware now that our lives are about to change forever but I have only a vague idea about how. I can only liken the feeling to the anticipation you feel before a major trip. What will it be like there? Who will I meet? How will it be familiar, how will it be different?
Statistics fan that I am, I've been feeling confident that Cholent will arrive no sooner than her due date. Late arrivals are more common for first babies. Both my brother and I were born late. So while I'm huge now and can readily smile and agree with well-wishers say "Oh, any minute now!" I haven't really been believing that internally. Not, anyway, until yesterday.
Suddenly towards the end of the work day I started to feel funny. Not physically. Sure my ears and cheeks were burning red (as they've been daily every afternoon for a while now, a sort of hormonal heat that makes me want to emerse my head in a bucket of ice-water). And I was experiencing the belly hardening Braxton Hicks contractions, but that too was not really new. Nope. This new funny feeling was in my head.
I looked out my window at the familiar view of MegaCorp's huge construction site and the mountain that is Haifa just beyond. I felt like the colors had a new intensity, the greens greener. And the crane was moving in slow-mo. I might not see this view again for a while, I thought. I could go home tonight and have a baby, I thought.
I confided my thoughts to Esti, who urged me to go home. She's right I thought, after 5:00 came. What am I doing here? I had planned to buy fish but decided to skip it and go home.
I called Adi and left him a message on his cellphone. He turns it off during classes. Turns out he doesn't always remember to turn it on in between. I tried hard to sound calm and make it clear that no, nothing was *actually* happening yet, but... that I felt funny and would appreciate it if he could come home right away after class.
I drove home in a bit of a daze, very aware of the Braxton Hicks bowling ball in front of me and the highly uncomfortable strap of my seatbelt that really didn't fit around it.
I started to feel VERY focused. A list of action items formed in my head: bake brownies? repack my hospital bag? shower? straighten up? work on Adi's grad school applications! yup. Suddenly, those MUST get done. Now. Tonight. Maybe stay up completing them.
I straightened up, showered, ate, started the brownies and sat down and in a fit of focus made a final (brilliant) edititng pass at Adi's personal statement. I made it sharper and tighter. He'd have to like it. Where was he? I fed the cat and ordered more food for her. I called Adi again and left a text message. I decided he was going to have to learn how to keep his phone on vibrate, and would have to warn his teachers that his wife is very pregnant.
Finally Adi burst in, a look of concern on his sweet face. He had just heard my messages on the way home, after watching a Yiddish movie at the library. I'm fine, I reassured him. But we're completing at least one grad school application now. Today.
OK, OK, he said.
I was p-r-e-tty bossy, directing his focus back to the task whenever he tried to kiss or distract me. I could have the baby TONIGHT I told him, so let's do this.
OK, OK! And so we did. It took about two hours and we still have a paper to translate, but it was a real milestone.
Task complete, I accepted a piece of hot brownie with ice cream and we started watching a wierd movie, Hard Candy, before Adi fell asleep and we went to bed. My belly felt ROCK hard. I made sleepy Adi touch it and warned him that I'd have to wake him up if the baby came.
But no, we slept through the night. Well, not counting the 3 or 4 times I got up. And I still was up in time to catch yet another sunrise. Glowing orange ball today. And I had WEIRD dreams.
But no baby yet. Good. That gives us time to wrap up the rest of the applications!!!

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Is Barbie Gay?

2006-12-05T07:13:00.000-05:00

Too funny:
http://planetgonecrazy.blogspot.com/2006/09/mattel-to-sue-over-lesbian-barbie-show.html

Meanwhile, I feel SO VERY BIG and PREGNANT today. I guess that's because I am. 38 weeks. Having trouble sleeping. My legs ache. Other than that and associated tired irritability, I'm just fine.

Belly Cam - Ending Week 37! So ROUND

2006-12-02T01:51:00.000-05:00

Belly Cam - Ending Week 37!

2006-12-02T01:46:00.000-05:00

Stocking the Freezer

2006-12-01T00:32:00.000-05:00

I made Faye's Sweet Carrot Kuggel (see photo). I got inspired at the end and topped it with some coconut flakes. It came out sweet, light, very delicious. I made a double recipe. I'd been debating since I'd never made it before, but I listened to all the books I've been reading which recommend making extra qunatities of food and freezing them for when the baby comes. In my case, my parents will be here to help and cook but you never know. It will be nice to have some familiar favorites on hand. So half went in the freezer.
I also baked Challah, making two largish ones and four "babies" to freeze for weeks when we'll just need a pair for blessing.
I made mushroom barley soup.
And I made these dried cranberry biscotti: Agreed with reviewers that the white chocolate would have been overkill. I like my biscotti nice and dry, no melty additions.
And finally, I made Faye's Sour Cream Walnut Cinnamon Coffee Cake. I used some buttermilk and Israeli "ski" cheese in lieu of actual sour cream. That may have been the problem but basically this cake was just a little boring, oddly not sweet enough too. Half of this sucker is going in the freezer too, for a rainy shabbos morning...
What can I say, I guess I enjoy baking. I like the precision, following instructions, measuring. And I love the results, especially now!

Cool and Confident

2006-11-30T10:42:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling WAY more relaxed and confident these days about the birth. Much of the confidence comes from understanding some numbers. Here are a few helpful facts I've learned recently:

The drive to the hospital is much more dangerous than labor itself. As a fan of statistical logic, I take great comfort in this.
Contractions don't usually last for more than 90 seconds. That doesn't mean they're not a bitch of course, but yoga has tought me a lot about what you can endure for 90 seconds.
I can expect a few good hours of pre-labor or first-phase, "latent" labor before we need to get to the hospital. It may seem silly, but since I was a little girl and heard about this whole birthing thing, I've had a secret fear that I would not *know* when it was time. Seems to me it will be rather obvious, and there will probably be a rather wide window of time to get there and get settled in. Or not, but in the case things move so fast we don't have time to get there, all the better! It's a sign that things are just fine.

Cooking A Bit

Having neglected my Faye Levy project for a while, I made her baked version of shakshuka, a North African egg dish. Alas, delicious but Cholent-resistant tomatoes were a key ingredient and I experienced quite the violent puking a good couple hours after enjoying my lunch. Oh well.

Dreams

Sleep is poor again. For a while I was making it through the night with as few as one pp wake-up breaks and an early rise. Now I'm back to more like 3 trips up before a pre-dawn awakening. Oh well, I see lots of pretty sunrises.
This week I bought a new humidifier, thinking it might help. If you don't know, one of the many, many wierd side effects of pregnancy they don't advertise is the way your body produces more mucus to help protect you from disease... and stuff up your nose with an alergy like congestion.
I was very excited about sleeping the first night with humidifier. I was a little hungry when I went to bed, but too tired to eat. Mistake! Going to sleep hungry is a sure-fire recipe for nightmares.
Well the first part of the dream was fine. I was at a party at the shul. My friend Larry was there, he was playing with small baby Cholent. He then passed her to Richard Dryfus (slightly younger version than current Richard Dryfus). He was lying on his back on the floor and held Cholent to his chest and lifted her in the air. She was happy, with dark hair, still a small baby.
Flash to part two of dream. Now Cholent was a little older, with brown-blonde curls, light eyes, and a happy smile. We had two cars. One, our current beauty, the Disco Corsa (featured here decked out for our wedding). The other, a 70's red compact with the word JEEP inconguously printed across the back in big, guidish black letters. Cholent was in a car seat in the back of this later vehicle which for some reason I had to leave in the middle of the road for a few minutes (with her in it) while I manoeuvered Disco Corsa in front of it. I parked Disco Corsa and turned to the back seat to get something out of the back seat when an intruder opened the back door and reached his hand in. He was saying "Hey, baby".
My thought: "I must defend Cholent!" Car keys in hand, I planned to stab the intruder's hand with the sharp point of my keys but first emitted a scream. It came out out loud, for real, waking Adi.
"What? what?" he said, somewhat in his sleep.
"Nothing, bad dream," I said. Why Cholent was in the other car I don't know.
But the two cars is probably because earlier that day I helped my brother-in-law jump start his car which was conveniently stranded across the street from our apartment.
What Richard Dryfus was doing in my subconscious I do not know.

Product Plug

2006-11-28T14:02:00.000-05:00

Strange but every time I use it I keep thinking "I must write about this on my blog". So here it is. My mother-in-law bought me a bottle of this AHAVA "Pure spa Multi-Vitamin Dry Oil Mandarin - Cedarwood". It's a spray-on body moisturizer that really rocks. It's fairly light, yet soothes my stretching, growing skin and provides a nice gentle scent. Best of all, the spray feature makes it easy to apply to hard-to-reach areas (basically ALL areas are now hard to reach) and it absorbs well so even if I can't quite reach to rub it in, no problem.

Turns out a sales girl at the duty free told her it was a must-have for pregnant women and go figure, she was totally right.

US shoppers can find it here: http://www.judaicawebstore.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=7773018

Too Funny

2006-11-27T11:09:00.000-05:00

This is from an e-card you can send from the www.doula.co.il website. The text translates to:

My contractions have started
and I feel
that birth is
approaching
Wish us luck!

Gee, I hope I'll be wearing red feathers around my tummy when contractions begin. And I'm so sure I'll have the presence of mind to send you all an e-card. NOT!

In fact, I felt a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions today. These are the body's natural training exercises of the uterine muscles. Or so I'm told. What happens is my tummy goes from pretty darn hard to rock hard, like a helmet or a turtle shell. They don't hurt. Sometimes I don't even notice them but today they were more frequent and felt a bit weird. Not scary weird. In fact, sort of comforting, since they can be taken as a sign that my body is on track.

Yesterday I observed something useful when looking at a drawing of the baby at 36 weeks (Cholent's age) inside the mama. While head is down (as Cholent's is), the feet are not straight up as I'd imagined, but more at an angle. This makes the kicking sensations I've felt make a bit more sense.

Ah, well...

2006-11-27T10:54:00.000-05:00

Seems our hospital of choice does not allow doulas. Details (in Hebrew) http://www.doula.co.il/Index.asp?ArticleID=501&CategoryID=165&Page=3. However, they say that each midwife is responsible for only 2 laboring women at a time. They're flexible about birthing positions and pain relievers.
I suppose you could still have a doula who you don't identify as such. But perhaps the decision just got easier!
Checked the other 2 Haifa hospitals. Same story.

Doula

2006-11-27T10:04:00.000-05:00

Charles, in keeping with the Alex from Hungary spirit, wrote:

I think having a Doula is a grand idea. When you want to know the future you go to the woman whose profession it is to tell the future. When you want to have a baby you go to the woman whose profession it is to help bring in a baby.

In reality having her there will probably make you more comfortable. Example she is a person whose profession it is to make a woman having a baby more comfortable. Especially as it sounds as if you could have her there and Adi there and then Rotate one of them out s your mother could be there. Example this is a good situation! Example here is the last sentence of your blog entry I think you have decided “…everyone I know who hired one was glad they did.”